‘Cookbook medicine’ won’t do for the elderly

Just as children require specialized medical care, elderly adults have different needs than patients half their age

By Jane E. Brody / NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , NEW YORK

But about one-quarter of the older population in the US has multiple chronic conditions and accounts for 80 percent of the country’s Medicare expenditures, he added. “These patients need coordinated care, a system of regular monitoring, and regular access to a primary care doctor who can detect problems early before they require expensive, dramatic treatments.”

VIEW THIS PAGE